Dark Horse
by words-are-my-weakness
Summary: Gill and Rachel are both leaving work early to go out that evening...and both have a secret they have kept for over twenty years...
1. Chapter 1

_**I have far too much free time at the moment, and an overactive imagination; hence another FanFic…Enjoy X**_

Rachel Bailey had been running around like a headless chicken all day. She tried doing a million things at once; she thought this was easy being a woman, however, proved to herself it was not! Her head was somewhere else, other than on the job and her colleagues had started to notice she was becoming a bit slack. She checked her watch every five minutes and then her phone. It was half an hour until clocking off when Rachel sped into her boss' office.

"Can I…?" Rachel began but didn't finish.

"Course, sit down" Gill replied, not looking up from her paperwork.

"I…erm…Can I…" Rachel failed.

"Can you what?" Gill tried to enquire, not understanding what Rachel meant, her telepathic powers had failed to kick in.

"Is it alright if I get off a bit early tonight?" she asked eventually.

"Going somewhere special Rachel?" Gill asked inquisitively.

"No. Not really" she answered deadpan.

"Oh right. Well you're in luck, I've got to get off in a bit as well".

"Oh, are you going somewhere special boss?" Rachel tried not to smile.

"That depends"

"On…?" Rachel became nosier.

"That's for me to know" Gill answered, giving nothing away.

"Ok, thanks boss" Rachel said, leaving the office.

Rachel took her seat again, at the desk opposite best friend and colleague Janet Scott. She beginning to calm, but at the same time, was growing more and more nervous. Gill left her own office as the two women began to talk.

"You alright Rach?" Janet asked.

"No. I'm meeting my mum in an hour" she confided in her friend.

"Oh, you're going through with it then"

"Yeah" Rachel answered. Gill smiled as she walked past. "God knows why, I'll probably end up killing the bitch. I hate her Jan, you know, she walked out on me when I was twelve years old" Rachel said, tearfully, angrily.

"So why are you going?" Janet interrogated in her best interview voice.

"I want to see what she has got to say for herself". Gill stopped smiling at that moment.

_X_X_X_X_

Rachel had not long left when Janet strolled into her boss' office, where she and Rachel had sat talking not half an hour ago.

"Going somewhere?" Janet mocked, watching Gill put her lipstick on in her handheld mirror.

"What is it with all of you today; can't a woman put on a bit of lippie without going out?" Gill snapped.

"What's got into you?"

"Nothing. I'm going out alright, I'm meeting someone" Gill replied.

"Is this someone a he?" Janet smiled.

"No actually, it's not" Gill said, not giving too much information. "Where was Rachel off to? She's had a face in a fit all day"

"Don't tell her I told you. She's meeting her mum"

"Oh right, is she not in contact with her then?" Gill asked.

"No, she walked out on her when she was twelve, she hasn't seen her since"

"Twelve?" Gill repeated. Janet only nodded.


	2. Chapter 2

Gill had been sat in the pub for nearly fifteen minutes and had already downed two glasses of red wine. She was starting to panic. What if she didn't turn up? She kept asking herself. She spent a while watching other people, and wondering what it would be like, when she eventually turned up. She imagined their conversations, the things they would do together. Then she walked in and the world stopped. Gill had never realised how beautiful she really was and how alike they were, in their mannerisms, their walk, they tastes, there was more in common they she had ever realised.

Gill stood as the taller brunette walked over to her. "Alright boss, what you doing here?" Gill smiled innocently at her.

"Waiting for you" Gill replied.

"What?" Rachel asked confused. Gill just waited for the penny to drop. _'She should have been a blonde'_ Gill thought. '_Obviously she doesn't get the slow gene from me.'_

"I'm waiting for my mum" Rachel said.

"And here I am" Gill answered shyly.

"You are joking. You're my mum?" Rachel gasped in dismay. "But, you can't be"

"Afraid so darling, thirty two years ago on the twenty first of March, I gave birth to the most beautiful baby girl in the world" Gill began to cry. Rachel took a seat at a table before she fell. This wasn't what she expected.

"Why did you walk out on me when I was twelve years old?" she asked, the question she had been dying to know the answer to since that very day.

"I didn't" Gill replied, not knowing what Rachel was talking about. "I was fourteen when I had you Rachel, my parents went ballistic when they found out. I never told them, not a thing, until the hospital phoned them after I'd given birth to you. They couldn't handle it, dad left and mum; she took you, and I never saw you again. She snatched you right out of my arms" Gill cried harder.

"Come on, let's not do this here eh?" Rachel said, standing up and taking hold of Gill's hand. The pair walked to the door hand in hand, Gill crying, and Rachel bewildered. She didn't have the whole truth yet, but she knew she would get it one day. She also knew Gill wasn't lying. As angry as she was, she felt sorry for her.

They reached the door to the pub and a group of men walked in, laughing at the pair's hands. Gill froze; a rarity, she didn't know what to say. Rachel took charge.

"Oi, mitmop" she called as the men walked by. One turned back to face her. "Don't you dare laugh at my mum, can't you see she's upset?"

Gill looked up at Rachel; her daughter squeezing her hand a little tighter. "You called me mum" she observed.

"We've still got a long way to go, and you've got a lot of explaining to do. But it's not your fault, mum"


	3. Chapter 3

The car park had filled up as Gill and Rachel walked through. "Have you got your car?" Gill asked Rachel; having not brought hers, knowing she would be drinking.

"No, Sean dropped me off" she replied. "It's alright, we'll get a taxi" Rachel nodded and smiled at the fragile woman. Gill had not expected Rachel to react like this, she didn't expect to find out she was abandoned at twelve years old. She felt even guiltier now, than she did half an hour ago.

The taxi pulled up and the two women got in. It was mutually agreed that they should go to Gill's house, where they would be away from prying eyes. The whole way home, Rachel did not let go of Gill's hand.

In the house, Rachel waited for the kettle to boil as she observed every detail of her mother's décor and furniture, as well as the photographs on the walls. She smiled to herself, realising the similarities between them.

"Here you go" Rachel said, passing Gill the cup.

"Has that got milk and three sugars in it?" Gill enquired.

"Course, you have it the same as I do".

Rachel sat down beside her, a million questions floating around in her head, not knowing which one to ask first. She breathed out, about to speak, when Gill stepped in.

"It's alright" she began. "Let me explain"

Gill didn't know where to start. She stood to reach her handbag and took out a silver locket. She opened it gently, still scratching a bit of her blood red nail varnish off. She rubbed her thumb over the picture and smiled slightly. Rachel could see her drowning in her thoughts, remembering, reliving every moment. Gill handed Rachel the locket and Rachel stared at it for a few moments before speaking.

"Is that…?" she broke off.

"It's you" Gill finished for her. "You were only an hour old. The midwife took it of you for me, and I kept if safe. I haven't opened it for years, it was too painful, and I missed you too much. But I kept it in the bottom of my bag, and that way I knew you would always be with me" Gill spoke through her tears. "I'm sorry" she said as she stopped explaining to unburden herself of her tears.

"Don't be sorry" Rachel said, resting her hand on Gill's, comforting her.

"I still remember the smell of you; that baby smell, it was just so…you. If I closed my eyes I could still smell it, made me cry every time, and I was starting to forget it. You were so perfect; you just lay in my arms looking up at me, so innocent, not a care in the world. You never cried, you were such a quiet baby; making up for it now though aren't you" Gill joked. Rachel smiled. Gill continued. "Then mum came in shouting at me that I was stupid and selfish and they couldn't afford to feed another mouth that I was too young and immature to be able to look after you, and they certainly weren't going to. Then she walked over to me, all calm and collected; she picked you up, and she walked out of the room with you. Then you started to scream, and I was crying and calling your name. She never came back and neither did you".

Rachel moved closer to her mum, snaking an arm around her shoulders. Gill leant in, naturally, letting herself fall apart in Rachel's arms.

"Why did you never try to find me?" Rachel asked.

"I did, over and over again, but I didn't know where to look, how to find you. Why do you think I became a police officer?" Gill joked. It wasn't the sole reason, but it was a large part of her career choice.

"And you bollocked me for PNCing Nick's car?" Rachel mocked.

"I'm sorry love, you know I had to, you'd have suspected something if I didn't. I didn't know what to do when I did find you, I couldn't just walk up to you and say I'm your mum, could I?" she asked rhetorically. "Then you got transferred to MIT, and I thought all my Christmases had come at once"

"But still you didn't say anything?" Rachel quizzed.

"I wanted to get to know you first, for you to get to know me. I thought you'd freak out if I just came out with it. I wanted to help you Rachel, I wanted you to be a good detective. You are a brilliant cop, and you are going to be something really special" Gill smiled proudly.

"Must be in the blood" Rachel replied. "What about my dad?" she asked.

"Didn't see him for dust when I told him I was pregnant"

"Arse" Rachel snapped angrily.

"I loved him Rachel, I really loved him. I know we were just kids, but it wasn't a teenage crush, it was different".

"Yeah, well, he's still an arse for leaving you" Rachel replied protectively of her mother.

"Are….are we…ok?" Gill asked unsure.

"We will be. It is going to take time; I can't get my head around the fact that you're my mum. For twelve months I've thought that you were the biggest bitch in history. Now I know why you go on at me so much"

"Do you hate me?" Gill asked.

"No. How could I hate you, it wasn't your fault" the brunette replied.

"What about your foster mum, and dad?"

"She buggered off just after my twelfth birthday. She found someone else, and one day she just wasn't there anymore. Dad was alright, but he fell apart when she left. Haven't seen him in years, or her"

"Would you want to, see them again?" Gill enquired.

"I turned up didn't I?" Rachel answered sarcastically. "No, I wouldn't. I had no idea I was adopted. She left me because she didn't love me, you didn't have a choice. You're my mum, not her, and you always will be"


	4. Chapter 4

The following day at work was very pleasant for the whole Major Investigation Team. Gill and Rachel exchanged glances and smiles throughout the day, which was beginning to attract the attention of fellow colleagues.

Rachel bought Gill a cup of tea into her office. "Boss; just how you like it"

"Thanks kid" Gill replied, taking a sip.

Back in the office Rachel received an interrogation from Janet. The men of the team were taking bets that Gill was shagging Rachel, and she didn't spoil their fun.

"What is going on with you two; did you put poison in that tea?" Janet questioned, knowing Rachel would never willingly make Gill a drink and bring it to her unless she was up to something or was trying to make it up to her and messing up.

"Wouldn't you like to know" Rachel tapped her nose. "You know what they're saying, don't you?" Rachel looked towards Kevin and Pete, who were trying to listen.

"You're not are you?"

"Janet Scott of Scotland Yard; how can you even ask that? That's like…I don't know…wrong!" Rachel replied in horror.

"So go on then…tell me" Janet urged. Rachel stood and began to walk. Janet didn't follow. Rachel turned back towards her.

"Not here" she mouthed.

_X_

The two women found themselves in the downstairs toilets of Oldham Police station. It was the only place they could talk away from prying eyes. Since Rachel began working in MIT she and Janet spent a lot of time in the cold white room.

"So go on Rach, what's going on with you and her majesty?"

"Well you know I was meant to meet my mum yesterday…" Rachel began.

"Yeah" Janet answered, not working it out yet.

"Well, she was there, Gill"

"Why?" Janet asked.

"She's my mum" Rachel spelled out for her friend.

"No!" Janet gasped.

"Yes" Rachel replied. "She was fourteen when she had me, her mum took me away, had me adopted, there was nothing she could do. She has a picture of me, a couple of hours old in a locket in her bag. She never forgot about me, she never stopped loving me Janet" Rachel told her sincerely.

"She never said a word to me, all these years. And she never told you either?"

"No, she wanted me to get to know her first; her to get to know me, without scaring me off" Rachel repeated what her mother had told her.

At that moment Gill walked into the toilets. "Oh, hello" she said to the pair.

"It's alright" Rachel said "She knows"

"Oh, right" Gill said, unsure of what to say or do next.

"It's ok" Janet began. "Rachel's happy, that's all that matters. Are you?"

"Of course I am, I'm on cloud nine. I've got my little girl back, and I never thought I'd see the day" Gill answered, smiling from ear to ear.

"Do you think we should tell them upstairs?" Rachel asked. "You know what they're saying"

"Yeah, I heard something ridiculous, quite funny really" Gill laughed. "Yeah, come on then kid, we'll tell them together" Gill said, making for the door with hold of Rachel's hand.

_X_

"Listen up everyone" Gill shouted to the team. They all turned round to see her, the room falling silence at once. Kevin was the first to notice their hands locked in each other's. He giggled to himself.

"Something funny Kevin? Gill asked sternly.

"No ma'am".

"I've heard the rumours circulating the office, and I would like to inform you all that none of it is true. Rachel is my daughter, not my partner" Gill told them.

"Sorry boss, that's great news, congratulations, both of you" Mitch piped up first; the others following him.

Gill turned to Rachel. "Are you ok?"

"I am now"


End file.
